Saxon Brown
Arts Scholar
Reflections
First Year Reflection
Arts Scholars was the most enjoyable class I took my freshman year. The structure of the class focused on student discovery. Whereas my biology class is a standard lecture where my professor simply reads off of the slides and tests how well we memorized the information, Arts Scholars compelled students to take ownership of their education and rediscover their interests and skills. I learned how much I enjoyed photography (especially using Photoshop!). And I learned the different ways art can positively impact a struggling world.
Though ArtsFest was online this year, it was still a privilege to see everyone’s work. The website was nice because I could share my project with family and friends who couldn’t have been at UMD on the planned day. I knew of the other workshops, but not necessarily what the students were doing in them. This made for a wonderful surprise seeing the incredible diversity of my peers’ work. Like many others, I feel that I have gained a new skill after my workshop.
Knowing nothing about photography, I feel my inexperience was an inadvertent teacher for my workshop. My lack of knowledge answered basic questions (i.e. the best way to frame a subject, how to remove or edit color, etc.) and my initial photos taught the class what not to do. As my photography skills improved, so did the maturity of my classmates’ work.
I have always been heavily influenced by music. I play multiple instruments, write songs, and relieve stress by playing piano in the arts room every day after classes. Arts Scholars thrust me into other forms of art that I was not familiar with—particularly visual art. Though I thought I could never paint or draw very well, this class compelled me to not only try, but suspend my doubts about my abilities and focus on the experience of creating.
I cannot see life without art, for art is a reflection of the world. As I plan to become an English teacher, I see art as an avenue to help students grasp complex ideas, visualize detailed scenes, and analyze texts critically. Paintings and songs influenced by classic works of literature as well as ballets and musicals based on books are some of the many ways art has infiltrated the English field. For instance, when reading a book, I write down quotations that intrigue or tarry with me. When I find a painting that affects me in the same way, I match them up to make a “quote poster.” This is one of the myriad ways art and English overlap—words say what an image cannot and an image displays what words cannot express.
Arts Scholars focuses heavily on peer interaction. We must analyze our peers’ works in addition to our own. This is evident in the ArtsFest assignment where we assessed two workshops and two capstone projects. This build a community of artists who are devoted to empowering one another and build their artistic skills. I have contributed to the community by remaining engaged in class and utilizing the concepts from class whenever I can—whether with other artists, or not. As far as my future contributions to the program, I hope to possibly teach a workshop next semester.
Having an ELMS page specifically for my workshop was extremely helpful. It outlined all of the assignments and due dates, as well as uploaded the PowerPoints from class which allowed me to go back and review old concepts I would not have been able to without the ELMS page. I also love the field trips; they take me to places I likely would not have gone on my own which has broadened my understanding and appreciation for art. And, of course, my wonderful teachers who supported and inspired me have been an invaluable resource in navigating the wonderful and frightening world of a freshman in college.
Painting from https://gettingintoheaven.wordpress.com/2015/05/23/stanger-than-fiction-things-that-happen-in-class/
Fall: Sophomore Year
Art can reshape and recontextualize an understanding of our learned history, biases, and beliefs by extending an audience’s perspective beyond their own experiences. For example, when guest artist Ivelisse Diaz visited our colloquium and presented on Bomba, she exposed our class to a slice of the world we may have been unfamiliar with. Through dancing and playing the drums, Diaz relayed her experiences with the history of Puerto Rico and the racial justice issues she has faced. In this way, my understanding of racism and Puerto Rican culture extended beyond my experiences as a white, ethnically European male. The theoretical models and practical strategies for initiating the creative process are rooted in an artist’s identity. Though our panels and guests artists, I discovered that art is a reflection of the artist. Finding inspiration requires an artist to draw from their experiences and their perceptions of the world around them. These guest artists also affirm that good art takes time, with many experimental periods of trial and error to discern what best conveys the story the artist wants to tell. We can effectively incorporate feedback to revise and refine our ideas with greater depth and clarity by assessing our current work in relation to our idealized product. For instance, during our capstone studies I used the feedback I received to more accurately define my workshop outcomes and weekly warmups. I received a critique that my warm-up ideas were a little too vague and needed more substance in order to accurately prepare students for the ideas of the day and review the concepts from the previous week. In order to prepare my students to write compelling poetry (my idealized product), I need to more accurately define the activities that will immerse students in the week’s concept.
A news-related item that I encountered outside of the colloquium dealing with art as a mechanism for expressing one’s values and beliefs was a Smithsonian article about “How Artists are Responding to the Killing of George Floyd.” The article includes several examples of activist art that include paintings, murals, airplane banners, etc. that each display the outrage at the systemic racism that remains within American society. My engagement in the Arts program helped me understand these works of art better as it has compelled me to analyze the diversity in the art. Though each piece addresses the same issue, each artist does so in a different manner. Not only in the medium they use, but in the scene they depict. While some pieces include a portrait of George Floyd, others capture the protestors, some even depicted the Minneapolis police station. Arts scholars has a heavy emphasis on diversity of expression. This is evident in this news article.
Of all the courses I have taken at the University of Maryland, the course that shows the most interesting, surprising, and revealing intellectual connections to what I have learned as an Arts Scholar is my ENGL 301 course: Fields and Methods of English. Arts Scholars places heavy emphasis expanding students’ understanding of the various ways artists engage with both their audiences and the social and political issues surrounding them. Similarly, ENGL301 was about expanding our understanding of the fields within English and reimagining the various ways English studies manifests itself within the world. For instance, ENGL301 had a media studies unit where we engaged with films and graphic novels as we would a classic book or famous poem. Because of Arts Scholars, I no longer see English studies internally, but externally. A career in English or art is not just about sitting alone in an office, but rather how one takes their research and passions to create things for others in the hopes that they grow in their understanding of the subject.
Planning a capstone project can be a difficult endeavor. The freedom the project allots paradoxically makes it more difficult to plan for. Thus, my learning was improved by interacting with fellow Arts Scholars through peer feedback sessions. Reading my peers’ feedback on my idea, proposal, and research and integrating their it into my project has made the poetry workshop more inclusive, engaging, and beneficial for students. This interaction fell short this semester, however, as instruction was entirely online. While there are ways to provide feedback virtually, it was very one-sided; it was easy for the critics to provide feedback, but it was difficult for the artist to engage with the critic. Being online inhibited the learning experience as scholars is about bouncing ideas off of one another and it is difficult for virtual classrooms to support this level of interaction.
I have contributed to the Arts program and community by representing Arts on the Scholars Student Advisory Board. It is a privilege to watch students from different programs approach the same issues in different ways, and I am honored to be the sophomore representative for this program. The Scholars Advisory Board is responsible for organizing the staffing many Scholars organized events which provide extracurricular opportunities for Scholars students. I also am a Lakeland STARs tutor in which I provide academic support for students from Paint Branch Elementary School though weekly, one-on-one tutoring sessions. Though I am grateful to have these opportunities even in a virtual setting, I wish we were in-person this semester. As a sophomore Scholars student, I now have a more holistic understanding of what the College Park Scholars program is about and how it enriches a student’s collegiate experience. If class sessions were in-person, I would have more opportunities to engage with other Scholars programs and interact with their practicum/capstone projects. Just as it is exciting to view everyone’s Arts Fest assignments, it is fascinating to see how other Scholars from other programs have adapted their time within their respective programs into a project.
Just as ENGL301 expanded my understanding and appreciation of English, meeting people with perspectives that challenge my own has helped me to have a more encompassing understanding of the diverse cultures and beliefs of the world. For example, Jefferson Russell’s discussion of blackness within theatre helped me understand the different ways an actor’s identity reflects their performance. As a black man, Russell may interpret a character differently than a white or Hispanic actor would. Before this discussion about art as an agent for change, I thought acting was playing a part; it’s actually adapting one’s identity for a role. In exploring this perspective that challenged my own, I have become more appreciative of these art forms, as I have a better understanding of the work the artist assumes to convey emotion to their audience.
Photo from https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/blackboard-or-chalkboard-gm892354186-246994075
Spring: Sophomore Year
In reviewing my ePortfolio, I see the progression of more insightful reflections. In my freshman pentathlon submissions, for instance, I spoke broadly about the events and made loose connections between the art and my career endeavors. My recent submissions, however, go much deeper into considering the artist’s perspective and his or her intended effect on an audience. I also started thinking about the history and culture surrounding a work of art and how it has changed. In the film adaptation of Much Ado about Nothing, for instance, I thought about how director Kenneth Branagh modified the story to appeal to modern sentiments. Beatrice is given a great deal of autonomy in the play which stands in contrast to the lack of agency in many female roles of the early modern period.
After two years in the Arts Scholars program, I now see think of art more broadly and much more creatively. Art is far more than a painting or a drawing, but rather how one creatively responds to the world (this includes dance, poetry, music, and film). When Ivelisse Diaz came as a guest presenter, I saw how art and culture are tied together. Diaz managed to bridge her experiences with that of her ancestors through music and dance. Her presentation showed me how art can also act as a history lesson. Additionally, I watched an Intelligence Squared discussion for pentathlon about the healing power of poetry. It proved to be the single most influential bit of research when designing my workshop. More than exposing me to a dozen new poems I had never read before, the presentation helped me to rethink of poetry as a way to encourage and inspire people. I now think of poetry beyond its “pretty words” and see its wonderful capacity to empower people and social movements.
My capstone project drew on the central tenant of Arts Scholars: we all have the capacity to be artists. In specifically leading a poetry workshop, I attempted to connect a seemingly distant topic to each student’s personal interests and experiences. This manifested itself in their original poems where one student wrote about being a female in STEM and another wrote about his experience being a college freshman during the COVID pandemic. Though we all grew in our appreciation for poetry together, we did so from variety of starting places. Additionally, my workshop utilized peer review practices and the critical response process which are a important components of the Art Scholars curriculum.
Pentathlon has been crucial in helping me expand upon my artistic interests. As each pentathlon event had to be from a different discipline, completing the assignment meant I attended events I likely would not have interact with normally. For instance, I saw Fences at Ford’s Theare for pentathlon last year. I was not very familiar with drama and had never been to a show before, but after watching the play I realized how much I loved theatre. I have since been to many shows (both online and in-person) thus discovering a passion I didn’t know I had! Yet, pentathlon also allows students to deepen our existing interests. For instance, I watched many film adaptations of classic books for this year’s virtual pentathlon including Sense and Sensibility and Twelfth Night. Here, I was able to compare the book to the movie and consider the rhetorical implications of these changes (and, of course, I discovered some great films to show my future students).
Our group project freshman year is a perfect example of working collaboratively with others who hold diverse artistic perspectives, interests, and abilities. Our theme was simply “Earth” which allowed for a great deal of diversity in each person’s piece. I spelled out the world Earth using Blackletter script and filled each letter with words and pictures related to a natural biome. In this way, I was able to engage with my passion for the written language and visual artistry. Yet, when given the same topic, another one of my group members completed a digital drawing, another an abstract painting, and one even made cookies! We managed to liken the diversity of our pieces to the diversity of Earth’s ecosystems. It were these differences in our project that made the final curation more powerful.
Arts Scholars compels students to see the connections between various disciplines. How does science relate to art? English? Business? Though art does not exist in a vacuum, our culture often fails to see the myriad applications of art in our daily lives. After all, some of the most powerful uses of art are in ostensibly “non-art” settings, like in protests or on social media. Art has the power to call attention to a movement and convey the emotions of its participants. In my future role as an English teacher, I plan on encouraging students to interact with course content from a variety of artistic viewpoints. How can we engage with a book in class through visual art, dance, or music? Perhaps by making a playlist which creatively summarizes the story. Perhaps teaching the Charleston when reading The Great Gatsby or regency dancing when reading Pride and Prejudice. This will help students to see literature in a new way—one that feels more authentic and applicable to real life.
Photo from: https://medium.com/athena-talks/i-dont-know-how-to-use-the-bookstore-anymore-b9ad80335e79